Triathlon Live debuts in UK cities this weekend

August 4 - Live coverage of the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championships Series, taking place at Hyde Park this weekend (August 6-7), will be broadcast on big screens in six city centres across the UK, bringing this dynamic Olympic sport to people all over the country.

Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Plymouth, Portsmouth and Derby city centres will all be transformed into mini sporting arenas where everyone can be part of the triathlon action with an endless pool, treadmills and stationary bikes bringing the sport to life.

As well as taking part, spectators will be able to cheer on Britain's best triathletes, giving a flavour of what to expect during the London 2012 Olympic Games next summer, where there will be 21 screens around the UK.

Birmingham's Jodie Stimpson will be racing in the women's elite race on Saturday, giving fans the perfect opportunity to come together to cheer on local talent at the city's Victoria Square live site.

She and the rest of the British team have been set the target of achieving a podium finish in Hyde Park or at the Grand Final in Beijing next month to meet the British Triathlon Olympic selection criteria.

"Triathlon is a fantastic sport to watch, so I am excited that people in my home town have the opportunity to experience it live," said Stimpson.

"Hopefully lots of people will turn out to cheer me and the other British athletes on as we try to qualify for the Olympics."

Triathlon Live is a unique concept, organisers claim, and is the first of its kind to be trialled before an Olympic Games, acting as a pilot project to encourage active community participation in the Olympic sport of triathlon during the Games.

Each site will broadcast the BBC's coverage of the elite women's race from 12noon on Saturday and the elite men's race from 1pm, as well as having open activities from 10.30am each day.

About the author

Emily Goddard is a subeditor and reporter for insidethegames.biz. She has broken a number of exclusives including that News International had lost their exclusive deal with London 2012 following the phone-hacking scandal that rocked Britain in 2011, Richard Caborn's future as chairman of the Amateur Boxing Association of England was in danger, and she was also the journalist to report the first comments from the IOC following the Russian anti-gay legislation.

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